Exciting Change in 2019 Coming to Central District Boys Basketball Tournament!

For as long as most of us have been alive, the Central District basketball tournament has been held at the Fairgrounds (now Taft) Coliseum.  Many, like me, who played or were fans of high school basketball in Central Ohio have fond memories of playing and/or watching unforgettable games in "The Barn."  With the demolition of Veteran's Memorial and their convention space in 2015, The Arnold Classic moved many of its events to the state fairgrounds Expo Center.  As a result, three seasons ago, the Central District Athletic Board (CDAB) was forced to find a new and suitable location for our boys Central District basketball district finals.

Being in a region that lacks mid-sized arenas like they have in other parts of Ohio, our choices were limited.  Given the number of teams housed in St. John Arena and the numerous tournaments that each team could potentially host each year, Ohio State could not guarantee open dates for our basketball district finals, and thus would not make St. John available to the CDAB.  Fortunately, Ohio Dominican University stepped up to be a great partner with the CDAB and agreed to host our Friday night and Saturday Division I finals.  The CDAB is also thankful to the high schools that have agreed to host district finals for the division championships not played at Ohio Dominican.

Since being at Ohio Dominican, we've had incredibly talented teams and players that have drawn very large crowds that some times would exceed the actual capacity of the gymnasium, causing many fans to be left out of the excitement.  The CDAB listened to the concerns raised by schools and fans regarding parking and gym size, and continued to look for alternatives for the Division I tournament.

This summer, I along with a few members of the CDAB, and representatives from the Ohio Capital Conference and Columbus City League, toured the Greater Columbus Convention Center and met with their staff about the possibility of relocating the boys Division I finals, and perhaps another division finals, to the downtown venue.  From that pursuit, four things developed:

1. The dates of our 2018 district finals are already booked at the convention center and are not available.  Therefore, the 2018 Division I and Division III Finals will continue to be held at Ohio Dominican University. 
2. The 2019 dates of our Friday and Saturday district finals are available.  At our August meeting, the CDAB unanimously approved moving the Boys 2019 Division I Finals on Saturday, March 9, 2019 to the Battelle Grand (Formally Battelle Hall).  The CDAB has yet to determine which division will play downtown on Friday, March 8 as that and other details are still being finalized.  The staff at the convention center is excited to host the games and wants to work with the CDAB to make this a truly exceptional event experience for players and fans.  Battelle Grand seats well over 1,000 more than what we have at Ohio Dominican. Instead of using high schools for the divisions not played downtown, those divisions will play at Ohio Dominican.
3. Unfortunately, the dates of our 2020-2022 district finals conflict with the dates of The Arnold Classic, and we will not be able to return to the convention center after 2019.  The dates of our district finals are always two weeks prior to the state tournament, and we do not have the flexibility to change that.  However....
4. There is an exciting proposal in the works by the developers of Dublin's Bridge Park development, Crawford Hoying, that may see the construction of a possible 4,500 seat multipurpose arena (Dublin Field House) that if approved by the Dublin City Council, may be completed by our 2020 tournament.  Preliminary conversations seem to indicate that there would be great interest by both parties to move our district tournament basketball games there once the project is completed.  

Two final points to this exciting development and evolution of our central district basketball tournament:  The girls district finals will remain at Ohio Dominican University in 2019, as the venue there is the optimal size for those championship events and their finals that year conflict with The Arnold Classic and can't be moved downtown.  If the Dublin Field House is approved, we will certainly discuss the exciting possibility of moving girls basketball tournament games there as well.  Lastly, the Central District Athletic Board does not have responsibility or control of the sites of the Regional level tournament games.  The Ohio High School Athletic Association is aware of our discussions with both the convention center and Crawford Hoying and will make what they believe are the optimal locations for Regional Tournament sites.

The Central District Athletic Board is thrilled to announce these changes as we are always looking to provide the best possible tournament experiences for student-athletes, their fans and the communities that cheer them on.  I'll look forward to seeing you at the games!